Today is International Women’s Day, dedicated to the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. Women have made much progress in society, but there are still many injustices and inequities to tackle, especially in the realm of transportation.

The reason women have different needs while using public transportation has everything to do with the way they use these systems. For example, a 2011 study by Stanford University shows that in 15 European countries, a greater number of women than men make multiple stops when travelling by public transportation between their home and workplace. Women also make shorter stops than men on the way to and from work in order to perform household-sustaining activities, like grocery shopping and running family errands.

To address the unique needs of women while using public transportation, Loukaitou-Sideris recommends including them in the decision-making process. “Transportation planners really need to look at women’s fears in transportation settings and know that there are things that they can do to if not completely eliminate but reduce these fears,” Loukaitou-Sideris explains. “These solutions involve policy, design, policing, and outreach and education.”

“We believe that a bicycle, more than an end in itself, becomes a means,” said Sofía López, coordinator of Macleta. “A woman who starts to ride around on a bicycle is happier, she is more aware of the public space around her, she wants to occupy it, interact with other people… it promotes a kind of empowerment.”

To commemorate women’s role in improving urban space and transportation, here are ten of our past posts on these topics. Enjoy the articles and feel free to share your views on how to incorporate women and other underrepresented groups in transportation planning in the comments section.

Vatsala makes a living doing housework. After she wakes up, Vatsala goes to the tap to get water, takes a bath, prays, cooks the day’s meals for her family and heads to work using an auto-rickshaw. She gets two days off a month, and sometimes prefers to not take-off, especially when her schedule is very busy.

Jane Madembo relived her experience as a public transit and bicycle commuter in Zimbabwe. In the article, Madembo explains that public transport was scarce in the low-density, suburban areas where she had to travel for work, leaving her and other commuters to rely on inadequate and overcapacity transport methods.

Over 200 Ugandan women met in Buhoma,Uganda to learn how to ride and repair bicycles in an effort to promote bicycling and provide economic development opportunities. Ride 4 a Woman (R4W), a nonprofit organization focused on economically and socially empowering local women living near Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, and OneStreet, an international nonprofit organization working to promote bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly transit, spearheaded the project.

Lima, Peru is a megacity with a population approaching 9 million. It is notorious for its sprawling growth, vast slums and mobility issues stemming from a spike in car ownership and cab usage beginning in the 1990s. To deal with some of the problems in the country, The World Bank provided loans through the Transport Rehabilitation Project (TRP) to improve road maintenance and mobility of the poor , specifically women, by focusing on biking.

Today is International Women’s Day, a celebration observed since 1911 to recognize the economic, political and social achievements of women around the world. Eric Britton at World Streets wrote acommemorative piece on how “women hold the key to the future of not only sustainable transportation but also to a sustainable and just world.”

Moderated by acclaimed journalist Diane Sawyer, co-anchor of Good Morning America and Primetime, the discussion agenda focused on how “every problem in the world is exacerbated by gender inequality.” The claim is that women, compared to men, lack access to education, health care, jobs and political opportunities – and those barriers are ruinous for the health of global society. However, as the panelists noted, there are success stories of women who have overcome hardship and created change in their communities, and they serve as positive examples of how educated, empowered women not only improve their own situation, but also their family life, and ultimately, society at large.